Hockey goalkeepers (a.k.a. goalies) defend their team's goal in a hockey game. To that end, a hockey goalie wears various equipment, including goalie skates to move on a playing surface (e.g., ice), leg pads to protect his/her legs when used to stop a puck or ball and/or when moving (e.g., dropping) them onto the playing surface, and a blocker and a catcher to stop the puck or ball with his/her arms and hands
A goalie skate typically comprises a skate boot for receiving a goalie's foot and a cowling that covers toe, heel, lower medial, and lower lateral areas of the skate boot. The cowling is a hard cover that extends over the toe, heel, lower medial, and lower lateral areas of the skate boot for added protection in those areas. The cowling also carries a blade or set of inline wheels of the skate that engages the playing surface.
While the cowling imparts impact protection to the goalie skate, it may detrimentally affect other characteristics of the skate. For instance, a maximal angle of attack of the goalie skate with the playing surface may be limited by the cowling as a medial side of the cowling will contact the playing surface first when the goalie skate is inclined. This can in turn affect how fast and how hard the goalie can push off the playing surface during play.
For these and/or other reasons, there is a need to improve skates for hockey goalies.